52 




Gi5 



A paper to be presented at a meeting of the 
American Association for the Advancement 
of Science, in Columbus, Ohio, December 
27, 1915 to January 1, 1916. 




MOTION MODELS: THEIR USE IN THE TRANS- 
FERENCE OF EXPERIENCE AND THE 
PRESENTATION OF COMPARATIVE 
RESULTS IN EDUCATIONAL 
METHODS 

V by 
Frank B. 4 Gilbreth, Mein. A. S. M. E., 

Consulting Management Engineer, 

and 

Lillian Moller Gilbreth, Ph.D., 

Providence, R. I. 



Of 




This is the age of measurement. The motion model is a new 
device of measurement. It is for this reason that we are present- 
ing the motion model to-day to this section of this Association, 
which stands for accurate measurement, and which believes that 
advancement must come through such measurement. 

Your general subject for this meeting is listed as "The Scien- 
tific Study of Educational Problems.'' You are to be congratu- 
lated upon having chosen such a subject, and thus having shown 
your belief that advances in education, as in other fields of ac- 
tivity, depend upon the application of the scientific method to 
the solution of the various problems involved. The art of teach- 
ing need never lose its ancient respect and standing, but the sci- 
ence of teaching, which in no wise supplants or interferes with 
the art, enlists a new cooperation from all those engaged in like 
types of activity, and should arouse a new interest in educators 
themselves. Only where the scientific method is applied can one 
expect to find invention that is improvement, and progress that 
is continuous and permanent. 






2 



Now the continuous application of the scientific method de- 
mands three things : 

1. Units of measurement. 

2. Methods of measurement. 

3. Devices by which measurement can be made, and can 

be made at a decreasing cost. 

Many such units, methods and devices of measurement, as applied 
to education, already exist. There has been, however, in all fields 
where education is going on a lack of means by which behavior 
could be accurately recorded, and the records used as data for 
predicting behavior, and for outlining methods for attaining fu- 
ture desired results. Motion models supply this lack. They were 
derived in industrial experience, and were first applied in teach- 
ing in the industries, but their use is not limited to +he industrial 
field, nor to teaching of manual operations. ^ 

The fact that this paper is presented here is indicative Ui 
new feeling that is growing up in all fields of activity, of the ne- 
cessity of correlation. This realization of the importance of cor- 
relation is the outcome of many things. One is the tendency of 
this age to think in parts rather than in wholes, in elements 
rather than in grouped elements. In the olden times, both ma- 
terial things and human beings were invariably thought of as en- 
tities, wholes ; but with closer thinking, and the awakening of the 
scientific spirit of analysis, measurement, standardization and 
synthesis, has come the realization that the fact that the thing 
or person as a whole is often far less important than the fact that 
the thing or person is a group, or community, or combination of 
parts. The material thing is analyzed into its elements. The 
human being is thought of as a group of working members. The 
old-time operation is thought of as a combination of acts. Now, 
finally, the motion itself is thought of as a cycle or combination 
of elements of motions. 

With this intensive study of elements has come also a realiza- 
tion of the importance of likenesses between things. This em- 
phasis on likenesses may be given as the second reason for the 
realization of the necessity of correlation. The old-time wise man 
wondered at the differences between things, and the scientist for 
years and decades followed the old-time wise man, and placed the 



APR 23 1913 



<*1 



6 

emphasis in his classifications upon differencies. Our ordinary 
classifications of today are thus based : for example, classifica- 
tions of the trades are based more or less indefinitely upon 

a. Difference between the types of men who do the work. 

b. Differences in the ability and general education of 

the worker. 

c. Differences in the kinds of, or the value of, materials 

handled. 

d. Differences in the surrounding conditions. 
Similar emphasis on difference marks the division of the trades 
from the professions, a difference so insisted upon that any at- 
tempt to correlate the work of, say, a surgeon, typist and brick- 
layer, meets with instant and almost universal disapproval. Yet 
the trend in science to-day makes it more and more apparent 
that all have neglected emphasizing the likenesses to an astound- 
ing degree, and that a heavy price has been paid for this neglect.* 
The very idea of difference implies division. This has set up for 
years boundaries between experiences, professional experiences 
and teaching experiences, that it will require yeoman work to de- 
stroy. 

Yet splendid work is to-day being done in correlation. In 
the field of education the work done has not only a scientifically 
derived theory to support it, but can also show practical and suc- 
cessful results. This work is acting as a stimulus and a guide to 
workers in other fields of activity. Much undoubtedly remains 
to be done in correlating various types of teaching and learning 
in the schools, but what has been done is an indication of what 
can and will be done, and there need be no fear of the ultimate re- 
sults. Educators are also to be congratulated on the beginnings 
made in correlating teaching in the schools and colleges and in 
the industries, such, for example, as in the half-time work now 
being increasingly introduced throughout the country. However, 
this correlation has usually been imperfect in that, while the 
teacher of such "half-tillle ,, pupils consciously adapts the school 
work to fit the shop needs of the pupils, the shop teacher and 
school teacher have not generally, as yet, compared methods and 



*See "Primer of Scientific Management," D. Van Nostrand Co., New York City. 



attempted to make the pupils' learning experience a unified one. 
Shop teaching, or to put it in a general phrase, "transference of 
skill and experience in the industries," is at present such an in- 
definite thing that one can scarcely blame either side for this lack 
of correlation. In this country, and in the same locality, are ex- 
isting side by side to-day methods of teaching as old as the time 
of the guilds and the most modern methods of teaching, with an 
indefinite and surprisingly large number of steps, or grades of 
teaching, in between. It would undoubtedly interest, and it might 
profit, educators to trace the history of teaching in the industries; 
but this meeting is not the place, nor is this the time, to present 
such a history. This, because the need for immediate correlation 
of teaching in the school and in the industry is so pressing and so 
great. 

Never in the history of the world has there been such a need 
as there is to-day for economy in all lines, to compensate as far 
as possible for the enormous loss in human and material things 
caused by the great war. We have endeavored to bring out in 
various recent papers* the immensity of this loss, and to outline 
various methods by which it may be partially met. No body of 
thinkers realizes more clearly than do the educators just what 
this loss means, and none have proved more ready to do their 
part towards meeting it, as is testified by the noble work done by 
educators in all the warring countries in standing ready and glad 
to do their part in the "making-good process." 

We are presenting, therefore, in this paper what we believe 
to be the most advanced type of teaching in the industries, as a 
contribution towards that correlation for which we all long. This 
method is the result of years of experience as learners and teach- 
ers in many lines of activity. It has the increasing support of 
psychologists and teachers as well as of managers. We offer it 
not only hoping that it may prove of service in your various lines 
of activity, but with the assurance that you will immediately test 
it in every way possible by your own data and experience, and 



*"Motion Study and Time Study Instruments of Precision," Vol. XI, 1915. "Transactions of 
the International Engineering Congress." "Motion Study for the Crippled Soldiers." "The 
Journal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers," December, 1915. "Chronocyclegraph 
Motion Devices for Measuring Achievement," Second Pan-American Scientific Congress, Decem- 
ber, 1915. 



allow us to benefit by the results of the tests. We come with an 
equally hearty desire for cooperation, for this, in the final analy- 
sis, is the most satisfying incentive of all. 

In order to make clear what this device, the motion model, is, 
and what the methods are in which it may be used, and by which 
it is used, it is necessary to trace, though only in outline, the his- 
tory of its evolution. 

The motion model is a wire representation of the path of a 
motion. It is the result of years of endeavor on our part to put 
a motion in such visible and tangible form that it may be vis- 
ualized and measured with accuracy, and that the laws un- 
derlying 

1. The behavior that caused and affected the motion, 

2. The behavior that resulted from the motion, 

may be scientifically determined. This desire to understand mo- 
tions thoroughly has been a driving force with the writers ever 
since the start of motion study itself. The study of motions, of 
course, is not new. It must have existed, whether used con- 
sciously or not, ever since there was any activity at all; but what 
is now generally understood by the phrase "motion study" had 
its beginning in the year 1885. We quote here an earlier account, 
by one of the writers, of his first day at construction work. This 
will be of interest to this particular audience as not only outlin- 
ing what occurred, but indicating to some extent the mental pro- 
cess that lay back of it. We quote : 

"I started learning the work of the construction engineer on 
July 12, 1885, as I had been promised that a thorough mastering 
of at least one trade, and a general practical experience with 
many trades, would be followed by rapid promotion in my partic- 
ular line of engineering. I was, accordingly, put to work between 
two specially selected, expert bricklayers, who were instructed 
that they were to teach me the trade as rapidly as possible. They 
gladly agreed to this. First one taught me, then the other, and, 
much to my surprise, they taught me entirely different methods. 
To make matters still more puzzling to me, I found that the meth- 
ods that they taught me were not the methods that they them- 
selves used. Now, I had the idea that, if I could learn one way 
thoroughly, I could be promoted in the shortest time possible to 



6 

the higher position promised me. Tt seemed perfectly obvious 
that to learn two ways would take much longer than to learn one 
way, perhaps twice as long. Yet each man was an expert, whose 
methods were considered perfectly satisfactory, and each was 
turning out a large quantity of work excellent in quality. Hop- 
ing to discover which method taught me was the better, after a 
short time T quietly placed myself between two other bricklayers 
of my own selection. These were as willing to teach me as the 
first two had been, but I became more puzzled than ever when I 
found that their methods were different and that neither one 
taught me either of the methods shown me by my first two teach- 
ers. Naturally, the foreman soon sent me back from my own 
wanderings to my first location. All my friends, however, had 
one common rule for me, 'Keep at it on each brick until it is in 
true position.' T struggled on, trying to follow first one method 
and then another that was being taught me, and being constantly 
admonished by my first teacher, mot to make so many motions.' 
Disgusted at my unsatisfactory results, I began watching this 
first teacher more closely, when he was working, and found that 
he used two entirely different sets of motions when doing his own 
work, both of these differing radically from the demonstration set 
that he used to teach me. That is, nil three sets of motions were 
used to do identically the same type of work, the only difference 
being that Set One was used to teach the beginner, Set Two was 
used when working slowly, and Set Three was used when working 
rapidly. I looked at my second teacher. He also had three sets 
of motions. From that day I continued to observe as far and as 
fast as I could, and have found in practically every case that 
every worker has at least three distinct sets of motions for doing 
the same work. 

"Naturally, as time went on, I came to ask my various teach- 
ers, 'What is the quickest way?' Each one had his own special 
'kinks,' or short cuts, such as putting two bricks together in the 
air and then placing them together in the middle of the wall. Of 
course, I had to try out each of them, but soon found the great 
difficulty of achieving the first quality and, at the same time, us- 
ing high speed motions while working. 

"My observations involved certain fundamental questions: 



"1. Why did the teacher use different motions when 
teaching than when himself working? 

' 4 2. Why did the teacher use different motions when 
working slowly than when working' rapidly? 

"."J. Which of the three methods used was the right 

method? 
"4. Why did each teacher observed have his own special 

set of short cuts, or 'kinks'? 
"5. What was really the best method of doing the work? 
k M>. Was the insistence on quality first and right meth- 
ods second advisable? 
"7. At what speed should the beginner be taught to do 
his work?" 
Through all these years we have been trying to find the rea- 
sons why the conditions that were so puzzling existed, and the 
answers to the questions here enumerated. Both reasons and 
answers depend upon a few simple and easily stated facts. We 
say "facts'' advisedly, for the motion models have proved them to 
be such. We use the word with exultation, for, while we believed 
them to be facts for years, because the results justified the theo- 
ries, we have often been ridiculed by students and investigators 
in all lines for so believing. Only since the motion models demon- 
strated the facts are they coming to be acknowledged as such, 
and are we receiving assistance in making them more generally 
useful. 

The facts are as follows : 

1. The motions are the elements to be considered in learn- 
ing to perform an activity. 

2. Right motions must be insisted upon from the beginner's 
first day at work. 

3. Right motions do not lie in the consecutive acts of any 
one person performing the activity, unless he has been specially 
taught the standard method. 

4. Fast motions are different from slow motions. 

5. Standard speed of motions must be insisted upon from 
the learner's beginning on his first day, if least waste of learning 
is the first consideration. 

6. Right motions at standard speed produce right quality. 



8 

7. The best learning process consists of producing right 
motions at the standard speed in accordance with the laws of 
habit formation. 

We might here turn immediately to the motion model and 
show how it demonstrates these facts, but the demonstration will 
be clearer if the steps in the process of the derivation are care- 
fully stated. We shall, therefore, return to the seven questions 
listed above, and state in each case our conclusions as to the 
answer. 

1. The teacher used different motions when teaching than 
when working himself because he did not recognize his activity 
as consisting of motion elements. He attempted to demonstrate 
to the pupil that method that would obtain the desired quality of 
work product. He placed the emphasis on quality of output 
rather than on speed of learning. 

2. The teacher used different motions when working slowly 
than when working rapidly because of the different muscle ten- 
sion involved. When placing the emphasis upon speed, he was 
favorably affected by the variables of centrifugal force, inertia, 
momentum, combination of motions and play for position.* 
When there was no such emphasis on speed he was differently af- 
fected by these variables. 

3. While none of the three methods of any individual 
worker was at all likely to be'the standard method, the method 
used when working rapidly was most likely to approximate the 
standard. 

4. Each teacher had his own short cuts in so far as he had 
consciously or unconsciously thought in motion economy. These 
differed because it was not customary to compare methods, be- 
cause working conditions sometimes imply trade secrets, and be- 
cause there was no adequate correlation between existing meth- 
ods ; — the eye being able to recognize the slow motions only. 

5. The best method of doing the work did not at that time 
exist, because, due to lack of measuring methods and devices, it 
was not possible to record the elements, or motions, of all the dif- 
ferent methods; to measure these, and to synthesize a standard 
method from the data. 



*See "Motion Study," D. Van Nostrand Co., New York City. 



9 

(j. The insistence on quality first and right methods second 
was entirely wrong, since it allowed of the formation of wrong- 
habits of motions, the result of which is a lifelong detriment to 
the user. The proper insistence is upon right methods at stand- 
ard speed first, and quality of work product second. It must al- 
ways be understood that absolute accuracy of method and speed 
occur simultaneously only with the desired quality. That is to 
say, take care of the method and the speed, and the quality will 
quickly take care of itself. 

7. The beginner should be taught to do his work immedi- 
ately with motions of standard speed. Quality should be at- 
tended to, however, in every instance 

a. By having the learner stop constructive work long- 
enough to correct what he has done, or do it over again until it is 
of proper quality, care being taken not to confuse the doing with 
the correcting. 

b. By having some one else correct the work as many times 
as is necessary, until it becomes of proper quality. 

c. By having the learner work where the finest quality is 
not essential. 

The determination as to which of these three methods for 
providing that the resulting product be of desired quality be used 
depends upon the type of work done and the type of learner. 

It is probably needless to tell a gathering like this assembled 
here what a storm of adverse criticism the answers to these ques- 
tions, embodying our beliefs, has caused in the engineering, and 
also in the educational world. In fact, this storm of criticism 
still rages to-day, and we expect many objections to the teaching 
process here involved from you at the close of this paper. We 
ask, however, at this point that you suspend judgment in this 
matter. Set aside all of your prejudices and even, perhaps, your 
experience, to put yourself into our attitude in working out what 
we have stated are the most efficient processes, and then at the 
conclusion strike the balance and assist us with your criticism. 

You can see that all of our conclusions rest upon the possi- 
bility of examining and comparing motions and their results. 
The first necessity, then, was to obtain an accurate record of the 
motion. We used the fewest motions, shortest motions and least 



10 

fatiguing motions possible. We wrote, and collected, descrip- 
tions of motions. We made diagrams of the surrounding condi- 
tions, even to the location of the worker's feet, at the time when 
efficient work was being done. We recorded the best we found by 
photography, at first with an ordinary camera, later with stereo- 
scopic cameras. These gave us detailed records in three dimen- 
sions. We used the cinematograph to record the motions being 
made against a cross-sectioned background, floor and workbench. 
This enabled us to record and follow the motions more accurately. 
We then invented a special microchronometer for placing in the 
picture, when we could find none in the market that could give 
us fine enough intervals to record the relative times of different 
motions. This micromotion process, with its combination of the 
cinematograph , the special liming devices and the cross-sectioned 
screen, enabled us to obtain accurate and satisfactory records of 
methods used, except that it did not enable us to visualize clearly 
the path taken by the motions and the elements of the motions.* 
Our next step was to attach a miniature electric light to the hand 
of the worker; to photograph the worker, while performing the 
operation being studied, and thus to obtain the motion path under 
actual working conditions, Through the use of an interrupter 
in the light circuit we obtained the photography of time in a sin- 
gle exposure. Later, through a time controlled interrupter, we 
obtained photographs of exact even periods of elapsed time of 
any desired duration. Through the use of a special arrangement 
we obtained time spots that were arrowshaped that gave us the 
invention of the photography of direction. Through the use of 
the penetrating screen we obtained exact distance, and thus exact 
speed, of motions. Finally, through the use of the chronocycle- 
graph method, which is a combination of these various devices, 
we obtained a satisfactory record of a motion path, showing rela- 
tive time, exact time, relative speed, exact speed, and direction 
of all motions in three dimensions. This chronoc^clegraph now 
answers every requirement as a recording device, and also as a 
demonstrator of the correctness of our recommended practice, 
but it is not always a completely satisfactory device with which 
to demonstrate, simply because of the fact that the stereochrono- 

*See "Bricklaying System," Myron C. Clark Company, Chir-ago, 111. 
See works of Muybridge, Marey, Amar. 



11 

eyclegraph is not tangible. While it is possible to throw the 
stereoscopic records upon the screen, it is not satisfactory to en- 
able an entiie audience to visualize a motion path simultaneously. 
We were forced to use individual, single or magazine stereoscopes. 
As a result, any group of learners, although provided with stereo- 
scopes and with the same picture, or eyclegraph record, find it 
difficult to use or visualize the eyclegraph simultaneously. It is 
difficult to concentrate the group mind upon the individual sub- 
divisions of the motion. The motion models overcome this diffi- 
culty, making the motion path actually tangible. They enable us 
to demonstrate to the group mind. 

The chronocyclegraph is a perfect record. It is free from the 
errors of prejudice, carelessness, and all other personal elements. 
The motion model is the precise record made tangible, and trans- 
formed into a satisfactory teaching device. We must, however, 
establish the validity of our records before enumerating the ad- 
vantages of our teaching devices. What does the chronocycle- 
graph show? We group the following in accordance with the 
seven facts stated before: 

1. The chronocyclegraph shows that the sub-division of the 
motion cycle is the important element. The motion cycle can be 
accurately recorded, hence analyzed into elements that may be 
standardized and synthesized into a recorded method. The time 
taken to do the work cannot be used as a preliminary standard, 
the worker being allowed to use any set of motions that he de- 
sires. The elements of such a set not being scientifically deter 
mined, the user of the motions will either take longer than neces- 
sary to do the work, or become unnecessarily fatigued. In order 
to come within the time, he must finally arrive at what would at 
least be a habitual cycle of motions, many of Avhich are inefficient. 
If any wrong habit of motions occurs there will be a serious loss 
later by reason of habit interference, with consequent unneces- 
sary fatigue, and the likelihood of the time ever becoming stand- 
ard will be greatly reduced. The quality of the output cannot 
be made the preliminary standard, since this would allow of un- 
standardized motions, with an ensuing decrease of speed, and 
would result in unstandardized times. 

2. The chronocyclegraph shows plainly the effects of habit. 



12 

We have convincing illustrations of loss in efficiency due to the 
intrusion of old habits. They show that a discarded habit will 
return and obtrude itself when a new method is for some reason 
insisted upon, and the existing habit cycle is broken down in or- 
der that the new one may be formed. Say, the worker used orig- 
inally habit A, and has come to use habit B. If he be taught cycle 
C, which differs from A and B, where he fails in C, he will be apt 
to introduce an element from A, not from B. The complication is 
evident. To profit by habit the laws of habit formation must be 
rigidly utilized.* These laws support the dictum, "Right mo- 
tions first." 

3. A comparison of the chronocyclegraph of the various 
workers, studied in connection with the quantity and quality of 
the output achieved and with the standard method finally derived, 
shows that the best method does not lie in the motion cycle, or in 
the consecutive motion cycles, of any one individual. The micro- 
motion records are of enormous benefit here, in that they enable 
us, at any time and place, to review the methods used by each 
worker, and to compare them. 

4. The chronocyclegraph of the same worker performing the 
same work at different rates of speed demonstrated absolutely 
that fast motions are different from slow motions. They do not 
follow the same path or orbit. Micromotion records are here 
again of enormous assistance. Through them we were enabled to 
observe the worker performing the work at practically any speed 
that we may desire to see him use, as determined by the number 
of pictures projected per second on the screen. Those of you who 
have made a study of motion picture films, their making and pro- 
jecting, and who have analyzed trick films, where the people move 
far above, or below, the normal speed of real life, will at once 
realize the possibilities in motion analysis that lie here. 

5. It having been shown that fast motions are different from 
slow motions, it becomes self-evident that, in accordance with the 
laws of habit formation, the learner must be taught the standard 
speed of motions from the first day. If he is not, he will not form 
properly the habit of using the forces that lie in his own body un- 
der his own control, of which he is usually at present unaware. 



*See "The Psychology of Management," Sturgis and Walton Co., New York City. 



13 

It must not be understood that standard speed means always high 
speed. It does not. It means that rate of speed that will produce 
the desired results most efficiently. It must be remembered that 
there are a few motions that cannot be made at the standard 
speed at first by the beginner. In such cases the speed should be 
as near as possible that used by the expert. 

G. The records of quantity and quality of output that are 
made simultaneously with the chronocyclegraph records demon- 
strate that right motions at the right speed produce the desired 
quality. This is, also, demonstrable through logic. The first 
thing to be standardized is the quality of the resulting prodr.t 
desired. The standard method is then made to be that method of 
performing the work that will produce this quality most effi- 
ciently. Through performing the standard method at the correct 
speed the standard quality does and must invariably result. Dur- 
ing the learning process, of course, quality will seem to go by the 
board, but this is only during the period that the learner cannot 
succeed in performing the method described. The correlation be- 
tween the methods and the quality is perfect. Therefore, the ex- 
pected and desired result must come to pass. 

7. The teaching must, therefore, consist of two things: 

a. The right method must be presented at the standard 
speed. The right method, taken with the cinematograph at stand- 
ard speed of motions, may be presented slowly by projecting 
fewer pictures per second on the screen, but in any case the mo- 
tions must be made at the standard speeds when being photo- 
graphed. 

b. The right method must be followed during the deter- 
mined length of time, with the proper rest intervals for overcom- 
ing fatigue, and always with sufficient incentive. 

The learning process is the proper repetition of the desired 
method at the standard speed. 

It remains but to show the relation of the motion model to 
the chronocyclegraph, the use of the motion model for teaching, 
and for comparing the results of various methods of teaching. 
The motion models are made by observing the chronocyclegraph 
through the stereoscope, and bending a wire until it coincides 
with the path of the motion observed. The chronocyclegraph is 



14 

best made in combination with the penetrating screen, that en- 
ables the motion model maker to measure, and thus to transfer 
to his wire very small elements of the motion path. The motion 
model maker is provided Avith a cross-sectioned background 
against which he can hold his model during the construction pe- 
riod, to compare his results with the cyclegraph from which he is 
working. He is also provided with a cross-sectioned box in which 
he may place the model, for observation and analysis. As the 
original cyclegraph, by means of the penetrating screen method, 
may be inclosed in a box of as many sides as are desired, it is 
often possible to facilitate the making of the model by the use 
of a properly cross-sectioned box. This box is of wood painted 
black, with the cross-sectioning done in white. The motion model, 
upon its completion, is painted black. The spots upon the chrono- 
cyclegraph are represented by spots painted upon the model. 
These spots are made of white paint, shading gradually through 
gray to black, and when finished resemble very closely in shape 
the pointed spots seen upon the chronocyclegraph. The motion 
model, which has now become a chronocyclegraph motion model, 
may be fastened against a cross-sectioned background and photo- 
graphed from exactly the same viewpoint from which the chrono- 
cyclegraph was taken. The photograph of the model and the 
chronocyclegraph record may then be compared. Unless they are 
exactly similar the motion model is not considered a complete 
success. In cases where the motion cycle recorded is complicated, 
it is of great assistance to take chronocyclegraph records from 
several different viewpoints, as such records assist in making the 
motion model more perfect. In some cases two or more view- 
points can be obtained by mirrors. 

The motion model has all the uses of the chronocyclegraph 
as a recorder of standards. In addition it has its teaching uses. 
The first of these is as assistance in visualizing the motion path. 
The motion model makes it possible actually to see the path that 
the motion traverses. It makes it possible to see this path from 
all angles. This was not possible with the chronocyclegraph, for, 
even where many chronocyclegraphs were made, the sum total of 
them only represented viewing the motion from the specific num- 
ber of angles. The motion model can be viewed from all direc- 



15 

tions, from above, from below, and from all sides. A further im- 
portance of this in the industries is seen in the effect of the mo- 
tion model upon the invention and redesigning of machinery to 
conform to least wasteful motions. The necessary limitations of 
shop conditions, machine operations, etc., make it often impossi 
ble to obtain a chronocyclegraph from more than one direction. 
Here Ave have all such limitations for viewing the motion removed. 
The motion model thus immediately educates its user by enabling 
him to see something that he has never before seen. 

The motion model also teaches its user to make more intelli- 
gent use of chronocyclegraphs and cyclegraphs. These take on a 
new meaning when one has actually seen and used their corre- 
sponding models. In point of fact, a constant use of the motion 
model is a great help in visualizing a motion path without a 
chronocyclegraph. Of course, such visualizing cannot compare 
with the chronocyclegraph record, though it is often sufficient as 
a stimulus to motion economy and to invention. The motion 
model is also of use in that it enables one to teach the path of the 
motion. It makes it tangible. It makes the learner realize the 
problem of transportation involved. This has the byproduct of 
impressing the user with the value of motions. It is extremely 
difficult to demonstrate to the average person the reality and 
value, and especially the money value, of an intangible thing. 
The motion model makes this value apparent and impressive. It 
makes tangible the fact that time is money, and that an unneces- 
sary motion is money lost forever. 

The motion model is of peculiar value to its maker. The 
process of observing chronocyclegraphs and then bending the wire 
accordingly is not only excellent training in accurate observa- 
tion, but impresses the maker, as probably nothing else could, 
with the importance of motions. He conies to be extremely inter- 
ested in the significance of every curve and bend and twist and 
change of direction. He comes to realize the importance of the 
slightest change from a straight line, or a smooth curve. The 
elements in the motion cycle become apparent. He learns to 
think in elementary motions. 

There are at least two methods, then, by which the models 
may be used to transfer experience. 



16 

1. By having the learner make such models. 

2. By having the learner use such models. 

The sequence with which these two methods should be used would 
be determined by the thing being taught, by the learner, by the 
teacher, and by many other variables. If the object of the teach- 
ing is to transfer some definite experience, or skill, in the short- 
est possible amount of time, it is better to give the completed 
model to the learner at the outset, and allow him to make a model 
later when he has learned the standard method, and may be stimu- 
lated to invention. Tf the object is to teach the learner the impor- 
tance of motions and their elements, it is better to allow him to 
make a motion model first and to use the model later. 

There is also a great difference between the method by which 
the motion model is used to teach the expert and to teach the be- 
ginner. The expert uses the motion model for learning the exist- 
ing motion path and the possible lines for improvement. He 
notes the indications of an efficient motion, its smoothness, its 
grace, its strong marks of habit, its indication of decision and of 
lack of fatigue. Nothing but a close study of an efficient motion, 
as compared with the various stages of inefficiency through which 
it passed, can make clear these various indications. The changes 
from awkwardness to grace, from indecision or hesitation to de- 
cision, from imperfect habit to perfect habit, have a fascination 
to those interested which seems to increase constantly. The ex- 
pert, then, takes the model in whatever stage it may be, and 
through its use charts the lines along which the progress towards 
a more efficient path can be obtained. The motion model is to the 
expert a "thought detonator," or a stimulus to invention. On the 
other hand, to the beginner who is a learner, the motion model is 
a completed thing, a standard, and it should be in the most per- 
fect state possible before being given to him. Through its use he 
can see what he is to do, learn about it through his eye, follow 
the wire with his fingers, and thus accustom his muscles to the 
activity that they are expected to perform. Moreover, he can, 
through the speed indications, follow the path at the desired 
speed, by counting, or by the use of specially designed timing de- 
vices that appeal to his eye, to his ear, or to both simultaneously. 
All of the sense teaching is thus closely correlated. A further 



17 

correlation through hooks or through oral instructions concern- 
ing the significance of what he sees and touches, makes the in- 
struction highly efficient. 

This method of instruction may seem at first applicable to 
manual work only, but, as with its use the importance of de- 
cisions and their relation to the motions becomes more apparent, 
it will be seen that the complete field. of use has by no means as 
yet been completely charted. So much for the motion model as 
a means of transferring experience, or of teaching. 

We next turn to the motion model as a means for recording 
results. We have already discussed at some length the motion 
model as a record of a method of performing an activity. It can 
also serve as a record of the individual's, that is, the learner's re- 
sponse to the teaching. If at various stages of the individual's 
learning process his behavior be ehronocyclegraphed and then 
motion modeled, and the results compared with the motion model, 
we have a very definite and visible standard of progress. If vari- 
ous individuals at the same stage of learning be thus handled, 
we have not only a record of their progress, but also a record of 
the value of the method being used. If proper test conditions be 
maintained, and other individuals be trained along a different 
method, and the various sets of motion models be then compared, 
we have a comparative record of results. It w r ill be seen that this 
method of comparing results may be used even where the motion 
model has not in any way been used as a teacher. The results of 
any number of educational methods that manifest themselves in 
any form of behavior may be compared. 

We have also a method that will record fatigue, and that, 
therefore, will make possible the determination of rest periods, 
their length compared to working periods, and also their distribu- 
tion throughout the hours of the day.* 

We have said many times that there is no waste in the world 
to-day that equals the waste in needless, ineffective and ill-di- 
rected motions and their resulting unnecessary fatigue. This 
means that there are no savings that can be made to-day that can 
compare with those made by eliminating useless motions, and 
transforming ineffective and ill-directed motions into properly di- 



^See "Fatigue Study," Sturgis and Walton Company, New York City. 



18 

reefed and efficient motions. "Motion Economy," ""Savings" and 
"Waste Elimination" must be the watchwords of the day; sav- 
ings not only in money, but in the mental and physical elements 
that produce the money and the durable satisfactions of life, 
in the mental and physical elements that produce the money. 
II is for you to conserve, to utilize and to increase this intel- 
ligence by training all people, and especially the coining genera 
(ion, to become thinkers in elements of motions. The greatest 
wealth of the nation consists of the intelligence and skill of its 
people. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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